I am so glad that the series is pretty much going full on action comedy. It's probably the best direction it can go in, and the current writing staff has show that it really works. I was looking forward to this show as soon as I heard it was 15 minutes episodes. Seems to be something like Teen Titans Go, which actually surprised me by being really freakin funny. Still not watching CN though. Hopefully the internet will do what it's been doing.
Another interview here, with lots of details: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/448618/sonic-boom-interview-sega-and-big-red-button-on-reinventing-sonic/ - Game started development in 2011, when SEGA approached Big Red Button. - Big Red Button consists of people from Naughty Dog, High Impact Games (former Insomniac people who made the Ratchet games for PSP) and Heavy Iron Studios. (known for the good Spongebob platformers and some mediocre licensed stuff) - Worked together with Crytek to make Cryengine 3 display the game on the Wii U gamepad while also showing it on the TV in co-op. - Game is mostly two-player co-op, with sometimes four players. - If you play in single player you can switch between the characters. (seemingly like in the LEGO games) - Development was started before the Nintendo exclusivity deal. They say it made sense for it to eventually be on Nintendo platforms anyway. (in other words, it started as a multiplatform game) - Evan Baily is the showrunner for the TV show. - They started working on it with a somber attitude, as broader media initiatives have a poor reputation. But as they worked together with Evan they were pleased to see that he's a gamer as well. After they got together they had no more concerns. - Before really working on the games they established base rules like what the world is, what the characters are going to be like etc. - Big Red Button, SEGA and OuiDO (the animation studio producing Sonic Boom) shared ideas of what to add to both the game and cartoon. - Stephen Frost (the producer of Sonic Boom) thinks they're building a bigger Sonic world than they usually do. - Stephen hopes to make more games set in the Boom world. - Sonic Boom won't replace the already existent Sonic, they see it more as a branch of the franchise. - They hope to draw in new users while also trying to do something new for the Sonic franchise. - They went through a lot of potential new designs for Sonic before eventually deciding on Scarf Sonic.
Every new bit of info is more reassuring than the last. We just need some solid gameplay demonstrations so we can get the nitpicking out of the way. I wouldn't be surprised if this formula ends up much better than whatever direction Sonic Team is working towards.
They just got to do something about those horrendous in game models. And I'm not even talking about the designs at this point, just those in game models are ugly as sin. They could make it look like some of the promo cg art of even the show instead and I wouldn't care as much. That center mouth is bugging me so much though. They finally got that nailed down in Unleashed and now they reverted back to center mouths for Sonic and Knuckles and it looks wrong.
Tweet from Alex Hirsch (creator of Gravity Falls), saying what we were all thinking but too ashamed to bring up.
Sonic also looks better. For one he doesn't have the weird angular arms and he is more shorter. It seems some people tend to hate the Red Scarf and I get the point but Sonic it fits Sonic a T. Sonic is a show off and a red scarf fits his character. And the color red fits with Sonic's traditional Red, White and Blue. I would personally prefer no Scarf Sonic but if I have to choose between a brown Nathan Drake scarf and a Red Hero scarf then I go with the Red one. EDIT: Just did a shitty GIMPd of how would a no scar Sonic look, IMO this is how they should have gone. Spoiler
A scarf suits Sonic to a tee. I just really dislike the colour they picked, and the fact that it's much more like a bandana than a scarf. It ought to be red and longer.
I sometimes wonder why this fanbase nitpicks a lot, and tries to "fix" stuff that was already redrawn and refined hundreds of times behind closed doors, but then I remember Diablo III. A few people playing around in Photoshop or GIMP for curiosity's sake isn't quite that bad. You nearly broke my squeeing bone. NEEDLE MOUSE WITH TAPE NNNNNNNNGH *flops*
You wonder why people here try to fix things? It's because people here have a better understanding of what the fans want and can often do a better job than those in charge of Sonic. This isn't a nit-pick, I'm okay with the recent choices in the games, but there's always a lot to be desired. I'm a big fan of other things, like Mario, Zelda, Call of Duty etc. and I have far less complaints about those (even CoD) than I do with Sonic. Sonic has never had a real identity, and as soon as they refine it, something is thrown in to the mix. Luckily, Sonic Boom is a spin-off, a decent looking one at that by looking at the cartoon trailer. That in-game Sonic looks odd though. This looks better:
I'm a big advocate of classic Sonic. Sometimes when I see these new versions of Sonic, I feel like I lost my mother. I cry myself to sleep. Not really to that point of depression, but I REALLY don't think that looks better. :P I'd be 100% okay, and would even be happier, if they just shortened them all. Knuckles being buff? Sure, whatever. Knuckles being a foot or more taller? WEIRD. Sonic having even LONGER legs? UNCALLED FOR. I'm excited to see what comes out of the animated show though.
Sometimes what the fans want isn't always for the better. Halo 3's lack of bosses and final confrontation anybody? Fans hated bosses introduced in Halo 2, then hated their disappearance later on in Halo 3. It's a self-contradictory hive of uninformed opinions that can never be happy with the developer's offerings, even when they take that feedback into consideration. Of course, all things have a balance. There are some dedicated fans that understand these things a lot better, like you said, so their feedback and criticism is worth taking notes from. What's going on here at Retro is mostly this, instead of silly fanbaby whining about change. You guys know the designs are finalized and likely won't change, but you take five to edit some of the artwork and see why it looks so different from past iterations of Sonic. I can't criticize or condemn that. It's the snooty "I know better than a studio of experienced professionals" attitude from picky Diablo fans hue-shifting in-game screenshots, for instance, that got to me. That's why I was a bit bothered by the editing here, but not that much compared to what I've seen elsewhere. Some people can get so irate over these things, it's not even funny.
Developers should always try to listen to what the market wants. Right now all the changes we see here are changes for the sake of changes. I'm sure they haven't done the market research that says bandages are more marketable than simple design choices. It just when an Nintendo of America changes the look of a box art because Americans don't want to play as a pink furball unless he is angry. Keep in mind what the market wants is not always what the users want but in this case I think we can agree that simplicity is what we all want.
Well, if we're going to talk in the perspective of business, our market "research" is a tad bias to what we have observed. Unless you have hard data that I don't. Perhaps bandages, Skrillex, etc. are more marketable than what we believe are. The drastic change of Sonic has already caused a huge surplus of marketing for the franchise -- from multiple news outlets. People are curious, and are willing to buy into it. As long as they execute right, and the game is actually fun, and the TV show is actually entertaining, they may actually improve the brand and its number of customers. Unfortunately, or fortunately, this may be what the franchise needed.
Just because its getting publicity doesnt mean its good publicity. The publicity its been getting is not of the good kind. I have asked a couple of non Sonic gamers and casual gamers what they think and it was pretty Negative. The non Sonic gamers thought the trailers were cliche as fuck and the Skrillex music was too generic. Casual audiences asked me why is Sonic filled with bandages. I think this is sad because I think there could be a good game in here but this radical changes feel a bit of unnecessary.
Looking all over Twitter too the reaction seems to be "just let Sonic die instead of this tryhard crap"
Honestly I don't know what games I'd like beyond Sonic. Yea I like video games but Sonic is the one series I actually love. Without that, I'm not sure if I'd care.
